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Thursday, February 9, 2012

Up and Coming: UnBreak My Heart by Melissa Walker

Just thinking about the past year makes Clementine's stomach drop. She's not proud of what happened between her very best friend's boyfriend and her and she hates the fact that she's the kind of person who didn't stop things sooner. But clearly she isn't and now Amanda won't speak to her and the rest of her friends have (rightly) sided with her leaving Clementine feeling extremely alone.

Of course, it's a lot easier to feel alone when you're on a boat for the entire summer. Normally Clementine would have never agreed to something as insane sounding as spending school break with her parents and her little sister Olivia, but a summer of isolation sounds like just what Clementine feels like she deserves.

But, when you're out on the ocean, your troubles start to seem a little smaller compared to all those waves. When Clementine meets the eternally sunny James, a red-head who seems completely drama-proof they start to fade even further. But, the summer won't last forever and her September problems will be back before she knows it. Will the summer give Clementine the strength to face the girl she was last year?

There are many things to like about this book. The best friend's boyfriend plot has been pretty popular lately, but Clementine's story felt like how things really would have gone down. The real heart break Clementine feels is over losing Amanda, a girl she has counted on and shared everything with since grade school. Another thing I liked was that Ethan, Amanda's boyfriend was not a blameless romantic character. In a lot of these plots, the guy is so sweet and good that you end up having no idea why he's with the friend in the first place- it almost seems like he must be possessed by the EVIL friend. That's not at all the case here, instead the guy is just as much to blame- when he gives Clementine a mix CD, I wanted to reach in the book and WARN her. Beware taken dudes bearing mix CDs! (this is a real life warning- btw). Clementine's "love triangle" is just tense, messy, not romantic at all and it's one of the most realistic one I've read to date.

Another thing to like about this book is that it's not a mope-fest. Instead it feels sun-drenched.It comes out in May and will be the perfect book to take outside to read under some trees or on your own boat trip. Clementine's summer is one to remember and it's full of beautiful scenery and one very nice boy having his own family boat trip as well.

Realistic fiction lovers, mark this one down, you'll want to remember it in May.

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